Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm back!! Stop the presses! It's true! Whoohoo! Yeah…have fun!

9

I dropped the phone and was out the door faster than I ever thought possible. I ran all the way to the Curtis's. Without a word the three of us piled into Darry's truck and we started for the hospital. We stayed silent, and I watched out the window, wanting to get to the hospital as fast as possible. I hadn't even thought of why Pony was in the hospital, and that also brought to mind that Johnny must be with him too, right?

We reached the hospital soon, though and the three of us half ran half walked to the waiting room. When I saw the door, though, I let Darry and Soda go ahead of me. Family first, right?

"Ponyboy," I heard Soda say. Darry stopped in the doorway, and suddenly Ponyboy was hugging him and squeezing him and wasn't letting go. I saw Darry's body racking with tears, and all three brothers were soon immersed in a group hug. They let go, eventually though, and Pony caught sight of me. I gasped and put a hand to my mouth. His face was black with soot, and his hair was no longer reddish brown, it was blond.

Suddenly, I couldn't stop it or keep it back. Tears began to roll down my face. "Jesse!" Pony exclaimed, coming up to me quickly, and suddenly I was in his arms, and he was hugging me tightly. My eyes were wide. I hadn't expected this. But I let my hands relax, and slip around his back, and I pulled him close to me.

"Pony…I was so worried." I whispered, my tears falling freely, soaking his sleeve. But now he was safe. Everything was alright. Everything was fine, now. I had my best friend back. At least one of my friends… "Johnny!" I exclaimed, breaking the hug and pulling back to look at Ponyboy.

A shadow suddenly came over his face, and he told me that Johnny was hurt real bad. And Dally was here too. The four of us sat down and Pony explained what had happened. Apparently he and Johnny had run away to some church to hide out. That's where they had been all this time. He told us about the fire and how Dally went to save Johnny, and that's why they were in rooms. Ponyboy was fine, only needed a little oxygen at first.

So now all four of us were waiting to hear how Johnny and Dally were doing. Then the reporters and police showed up. They bombarded Pony with question after question, and Darry finally told them to stop asking so much at once, and they slowed down.

Soda kept the media occupied however, by being Soda and his antics. He donned a hat and camera and went around the hospital interviewing random people. He tried to take a policeman's gun, but the guy had to smile at Soda's grin. I watched as all three of them got their pictures, and Pony introduced me to this guy named Jerry Wood. He had been there when Johnny, Pony and Dally had run in to save the kids in the burning church.

Soda eventually got tired of all the attention and laid his head in Darry's lap to sleep. It was getting pretty late, and I assumed Soda had had a pretty sleepless week. I offered Pony my shoulder as a pillow, but he shook his head. He wanted to stay awake in case those reporters wanted to know anything else. After a while though, I had to lay my head on his shoulder, and his arm was draped over my shoulder and he hugged me. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, ya hear?" I said drowsily, fighting the urge to close my eyes and fall asleep right there and then.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning it." He replied, causing me to chuckle lightly. I closed my eyes for a moment, but I opened them quickly again. "Tired?" Pony asked.

"Naw." I replied, sitting up again. The reporters started to leave then.

One of them turned to Pony and asked him, "What would you do right now if you could do anything?"

Pony smiled tiredly. "Take a bath."

They thought that was kind of funny, but I could tell it was true. Poor Ponyboy had been living in a church, he needed a hot bath and a warm bed. Once the reporters had filed out, it was just the four of us, waiting for the news about Dally and Johnny. Pony asked me about the rumble that Dallas had told him about, and I confirmed it.

I had probably forgot to mention that us and Shepard's gang were having a big fight with the Socs the next night. Besides me, lots of other greasers had been getting jumped lately, including Two-Bit. A rumble had been set. I didn't say anything, but Pony didn't look all that good to be in a fight.

Darry smiled down at the sleeping Soda in his lap. "He didn't get much sleep." He said to Pony, confirming my suspicions. None of us had had an easy week.

"Hmmmm." Soda muttered. "Neither did you."

Finally Darry had to get a hold of one of the nurses, on account of them not telling us anything about our friends. It took a while to convince him that we were close as any family and finally he let his guard down and told us everything.

Boy, I sometimes wish he hadn't.

Dally was going to be okay. One of his arms would be scarred for his whole life, but he would be able to use it again. Figures. Dally had such a big, thick skull, he wouldn't let anything hurt him.

Johnny, on the other hand, was in critical condition. A block of timber had fallen on him and broken his back. He had third degree burns and in severe shock. He couldn't feel anything below his waist, but the hospital was trying everything they could to ease the pain he did feel. And even if…I squeezed Pony's hand, and Darry put a comforting arm around his shoulder….even if Johnnycake survived, he would be crippled for the rest of his life.

No…no, no, no. This wasn't fair. Not Johnnycake. He couldn't play football with us, or fight in rumbles, or go to the movies or walk to the park. But the worst part was that he'd have to stay with them. His parents; the ones who hated him and beat him. His only solace from his hell was us, was leaving and meeting with us. Everything was supposed to be okay when Pony and Johnny came back. I got a feeling everything just got a whole lot worse.

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We thought it was best we leave then, and Pony ended up falling asleep on my shoulder. I was tired too, but I forced myself to stay awake. If I did fall asleep, I wouldn't get up again.

We reached the Curtis house, and I thought I might as well stay, seeing as I didn't feel like going home so late, and I probably would've fallen asleep on the way, anyway. We tried to wake Pony up, but he stayed asleep, and finally Darry just picked the kid up and brought him into the house. Me and Soda followed, and I slipped off my shoes at the door, and collapsed onto the couch, hoping Darry didn't mind. I was asleep before I could even ask, but I don't think anyone minded and the house was silent for the rest of the night.

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I woke up and heard someone shuffling around in the kitchen. I stretched, fixed my shirt and walked in to find Pony making eggs. "Morning, blondie." I teased, making him jump a little. He turned and shot me a sarcastic smile.

"C'mon, don't rub it in." He said, looking back to the pan.

"It's not me you have to worry about, Barbie. It's –"

And without finishing my sentence, a voice rang through the house. "Anyone home?"

"In here!" I called, and then Steve and Two-Bit were in the kitchen. Two-Bit grabbed Pony by the arms and swung him around, despite the fact that Ponyboy had raw eggs in his hand. Steve slapped him on the back and shoved him across the room, causing one egg to go flying and the other was crushed by Pony.

"Smooth, Steve." I said, propping my arm up and resting my head in my hand.

"Now look what you did," Pony said, and I honestly couldn't tell if he was angry or not. "There goes our breakfast. Can't you wait 'till I set eggs down before you go pushing me all over the place?"

Two-Bit began walking in circles around Ponyboy, and he knew what was coming. "Well, look at that!" I thought all the wild Indians had been tamed! So which squaw's got your tuff-looking hair, Ponyboy?"

"Lay off." Pony said, reaching a hand up to touch his now greased blond hair.

Steve smirked. "Shoot, he had to get a haircut for his picture in the paper. No one would've ever believed a greaser could be a hero. How d'ya like being a hero, huh, big-shot?"

"How do I like being a what?" Pony said, dumb-founded.

Steve pushed a paper onto Pony, "A hero. Like a big-shot."

I stood up and came up behind Pony to look at the paper that Steve had handed him. JUVENILLE DELINQUENTS TURNED HEROES. "I like the 'turn' bit." Two-Bit said, grinning as he bent down to clean up the yellow mess. "Y'all were heroes to begin with. You didn't just 'turn' all of a sudden."

I scanned the page. It was covered in stories about Pony, Johnny and Dally. Everything, from the fight in the park, to the burning church. The picture of Darry, Soda and Ponyboy in the hospital. There were interviews with the kids' parents who Johnny and Pony had saved, and the story about the fight with the Socs. They had interviewed Cherry Valance who testified that the guys who jumped us were drunk. They were still charging Johnny with manslaughter, though, and…Ponyboy was going to court?

It said Johnny would have to too, if…if he recovered. Which was just a nice way of saying if he didn't die.

There was nothing about Dally's police record; boy, would he hate that when he saw it. Those reporters were dead if Dally got a hold of them. I saw a column just about Darry and Pony, which told how Darry worked two jobs and how Sodapop dropped out just so the three of them could stay together, and how Ponyboy was smart and a potential future track star. The last line said that the three of them shouldn't be separated because they worked so hard to stay together.

"You mean…they're thinking about putting me and Soda in a boy's home?" Pony said, his voice just balancing on the edge of fear.

"Somethin' like that." Steve said nonchalantly, combing his hair back. Pony sat down, he looked like he might be sick.

"No." he said suddenly. Two-Bit stopped cleaning the egg-covered clock to look at him.

"No what?"

"No, they can't put me and Soda in a boy's home." Pony said

"Don't worry about it. They don't do that stuff to heroes." Steve assured him, confident him and Soda could prevent anything that came along. "So, where're Soda and Superman?"

And speak of the devil, Darry appeared, picked up Steve and dropped him. "Jesse, look away!" And Soda suddenly ran in out of nowhere. "Where's that blue shirt I had yesterday?"

"Hate to tell you, buddy, but you have to wear clothes to work. There's a law or something." I had covered my eyes at that point, and all I could assume was that Soda was not dressed in any sense of the word.

"Oh, yeah, where are my wheat jeans, too?"

"I ironed. They're in my closet, little buddy. Hurry up or you're gonna be late." I heard Darry say. I heard Soda leave, muttering about how he was hurrying, and I opened my eyes. I noticed Steve was gone, and then there was the general racket of a pillow fight. Oh dear, they were at it again.

"Hey, Darry…" Pony said. "Did you know about the juvenile court?"

"Yeah, the cops told me about it last night." Darry replied, not stopping his search for chocolate cake.

"I…had one of those dreams last night. The ones I can't ever remember."

Darry suddenly spun around to face Pony. "What?"

When Pony's parents died, he began having real bad nightmares. Soda once told me that Pony had woken up screaming and in a cold sweat. For weeks it happened, and when I asked Ponyboy what scared him so much, he said he could never remember what had scared him. Soda and him started sleeping in the same bed, but the dreams still came. It freaked Soda and Darry as much as it did Ponyboy, so Darry took him to a doctor. Ponyboy told me later that the doctor said he had too much imagination, and basically he told him to do more drawing, reading, studying and playing football, so he was usually too exhausted after one day to dream about anything.

"Was it bad?" Two-Bit asked. I was worried a little, too. Ponyboy hadn't had one of his dreams in a while. I mean a long time. He promised he would tell me if he did, but he hadn't had a real bad one in months.

"No." Pony replied. I didn't know if he was lying or not, and if he screamed, I sure as hell didn't hear it. I hoped he was telling the truth.

Darry was about to say something when Soda and Steve walked back in.

"You know," Soda said to no one, "When we beat those Socies good tonight, me and Stevie are gonna throw a party and everyone can get stoned. Then we'll chase those no-good Socs all the way down to Mexico!"

"Where you gonna get the dough, little man?" Darry asked him, handing out pieces of the chocolate cake that he had found. Soda accepted a piece.

"I'll think of something." He replied between bites. I grinned at Soda's confidence.

"Hey Soda, you gonna take Sandy to the party?"

Oh, shit. We all fell silent. I remembered that Ponyboy hadn't been here when Sandy left. "What's the deal?" Pony asked, puzzled at our silence.

"She moved to Florida with her grandma." Soda said, the floor suddenly becoming very interesting.

"How come?" Pony asked.

"Look," Steve said, the anger rising in his voice. "Does he have to spell it out for you? It was either that or move to Florida, and her parents weren't all too happy about her marryin' a sixteen-year-old kid."

"Seventeen." Soda suddenly said quietly. "I'm gonna be seventeen in a couple weeks."

"Oh…" Pony replied. I ran a hand through my hair, and looked down at my cake. Suddenly, it didn't look so appetizing anymore.

"Come on, Pepsi-Cola. We gotta get to work." Darry said. "But…I do hate to have to leave you here, Pony. Maybe I oughta take the day off…" he finished slowly, looking at his younger brother.

"Aw, come on, Darry. I've stayed by my lonesome before." Pony protested.

"Yeah, but you did just get back….and…." Darry replied.

"Me and Two-Bit'll babysit him." I said, standing up to avoid Ponyboy, and rested my elbow on Two-Bit's head. I ducked as Ponyboy came after me, and Two-Bit had him pinned in a second. "Aw, come on, Ponyboy! Don't you have any fight left?" I urged, but Two-Bit was able to keep him down.

"Say uncle." Two-Bit said, keeping Ponyboy in a chokehold.

"No." Pony struggled, attempting to pry Two-Bit's arms off of him, to no avail.

I looked up as Darry was grabbing his jacket. "You three do up the dishes, and you can go see a movie before you go see Johnny. Come on, Two-Bit, lay off. Pony, you don't look so good. Smoke more than a pack today, and I'll skin you, understand?"

"Understood." Pony replied, looking up at Darry from his place on the ground, as Two-Bit stood up. "You carry more than two packs of roofing at once today, and me and Soda'll skin you. Understand?"

Darry smiled. "Understood. See ya'll later!" With that, the three boys walked out the door. The three of us listened as the Ford's engine started, and they were gone.

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Should I have stopped it there? Well, I'm gonna leave it, cause it's pretty long already. I know I took awhile on this one, so I thought I owed you guys a new chappie.

Responses!!

won't be the victim: Hmm, I don't know. Keep on reading! And reviewing!!!

Skylinebabe: Yes, I would have too. Thanks for the review, I hope you keep on reading and reviewing!!!

Okay, guys, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! It doesn't have to be long or detailed, but please just say if you like it, if it sucks, what I can change!!!!! If you can take five minutes out of your life to read a story, then why not take 5 seconds to review it!!!!! Especially if you like it cause it makes me WRITE FASTER. THANK YOU, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poll is still out there, ladies and gents, if Jesse were to end up with one of the guys, who would you want it to be. The results so far –

Ponyboy - 2

Sodapop - 1

NOBODY - 1

Yay! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!